FAQ - Suppliers

1) How do I join Polaris?

The accession of the supplier always takes place at the invitation of the Buyer and is a fully digital process.
Once the Buyer has selected the supplier to participate in the supply chain finance programme, Polaris sends an invitation to adhere, which is the beginning of the platform onboarding process. As part of this process, the supplier will be asked to provide a set of information that will then be shared with the financial partners. This sharing is functional to avoid that the supplier has to operate a (different) onboarding for each financial partner.

2) How much does it cost to join Polaris?

Suppliers have no cost of accession to Polaris, but only pay a commission on the use of liquidity on the platform (normally between 0.1% and 0.2% of the value of transacted invoices).

3) I already have a bank financing, can I join an SCF programme?

Unlike any bank financing, the liquidity acquired by operating on Polaris does not generate debt toward the bank, as it takes the form of a non-recourse assignment of the claims against the Buyer. This operation improves the financial ratios of supplier’s balance sheet, making it more solid and reliable towards the banking world. Opting for Polaris instead of the direct disposal in bank of credit held towards the Buyer is a winning choice, because it frees up further credit capacity for the supplier.

4) Can I join Polaris if my customer does not join?

No. The supplier's accession is always driven by his customer. However, the supplier can persuade his customer to use Polaris in order to obtain more flexibility in payments.

5) In order to join Polaris, what should be the minimum annual value of my procurement relationship?

There is no minimum eligibility level to operate in Polaris, although, in general, accession with turnover levels below 50,000 euro per year is discouraged.

6) Who are my interlocutors within the platform?

All Polaris adherents have the platform itself as their first interlocutor and the management team as their contacts.

7) What benefits will Polaris bring to my organisation?

Polaris is the instrument the Buyer uses to support its suppliers. The benefits are therefore essentially on two levels: the consolidation of the fiduciary relationship with the customer and the neutralisation of financial issues related to the supply relationship. Serving a customer who uses Polaris means working in peace.

8) How is Polaris different from other platforms?

The main difference is the shared contractual architecture, which also allows information and processes to be shared, avoiding the replication of worthless activities (e.g. the replication of onboarding for each individual financial partner). The adhesion to Polaris is a key factor in the relationship towards all other adherents. From Buyer's point of view, Polaris is an instrument that allows to manage supply chain finance programmes autonomously, without devolving management to individual financial partners and, therefore, without creating structural dependencies on those partners.